After much speculation, GM confirmed it will be using a brand-new eight-speed transmission for the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500 pickup trucks equipped with the 6.2-liter EcoTec3 V-8 engine (several full-size SUVs also will get the eight-speed).

The new electronic transmission, called the 8L90, will replace the previous 6L80 on select models, but it is likely to make its way (after some slight modifications) into the smaller 5.3-liter EcoTec3 V-8 as well. The only other pickup with an eight-speed transmission is the Ram 1500 that uses two different versions (the ZF 8HP45 and 8HP70, with a gear spread from 4.71:1 to 0.67:1) to accommodate Ram's three-engine lineup. There is no word about whether GM will offer a smaller, lighter-duty eight-speed to accommodate the smaller EcoTec3 V-8 and standard V-8.

GM notes that the new eight-speed will have an overall gear ratio spread of 7.0. This is likely to mean a much deeper first gear (possibly around 4.65:1) and implies that GM might be able to offer new gear sets to provide much better fuel economy while still offering strong towing numbers.

In a brief press release, GM said that the new transmission will still allow these new powertrains to adhere to Society of Automotive Engineers' J2807 towing standards, providing a segment-leading towing capacity of 12,000 pounds. GM's Toledo, Ohio, transmission plant will begin production of the new eight-speed in the fourth quarter this year and be available for 2015 models. Fuel economy estimates for the new powertrain will be released closer to the production date.

Late last year Ford and GM announced that they were working together on nine- and 10-speed transmissions (presumably for cars). At that time we caught a heavily camouflaged Ford F-150 heading out of GM's Milford Proving Grounds facility. Of course, it's possible the new F-150 could be doing something unique as well. No word whether GM or Ford will use something similar to Ram's rotary dial.

Ford actually scrapped it's 8-speed plans and is going all-in on the new 10-speeds

Posted by: Toycrusher | Jul 21, 2014 11:03:40 AM

I need a manual for Truck!

Posted by: Alex | Jul 21, 2014 11:11:21 AM

Once again, GM is a follower.

Maybe this is how they got the tow numbers for 2015 6.2s, they would probably not get it (12K) too well with the old six speed, same one GM boys were buying the 4.8 to avoid, lol.

Posted by: TRX-4 Tom | Jul 21, 2014 11:24:05 AM

Good for GM! Although I do wonder if it was this 8 speed transmission that allowed them to have the J2807 compliant numbers since this 8 speed and the J2807 complianct tow ratings are both for their 2015 trucks.

Posted by: ALL1 | Jul 21, 2014 11:26:28 AM

About time.
GM could use the 8L90 with all three engines, so long as differentiate torque converters.
300mm-6.2 V8
280mm-5.3 V8
258mm-4.3 V6

GM would necessarily need to offer taller axle ratios [numerically lower] to compensate for the much shorter reverse gear.
Supposedly Reverse of the 8L90 us 3.908 versus 3.064 of the 6L80.

Posted by: George_C | Jul 21, 2014 11:33:57 AM

"ecotec" LOL.

That's funny.

Calling a v-8 engine "eco" is right up there with "clean coal" and "clean diesel"

As much as I like Chevy, this is the way they do business as usual and that is put all the good stuff in the most expensive vehicle they manufacture, and leave the rest for the lower lines, where as it should be level all around, like Ram does, you can get the 8spd in a reg cab low cost work truck! That is what Chevy needs to do! at one time Chevy was the value leader, not any more!

Posted by: sandman4X4 | Jul 21, 2014 11:39:45 AM

@TRX Tommy

Seriously? Do you guys have to bash everything, but Rams? Every make follows each other if something works. Ram followed the others with 2013 updates like the use of high strength steel in parts of their 1500 frames, they added elctronic power steering in 2013 that Ford had since 2009, they finally added a long bed in a crew cab that the others already had, and the Ram CEO even stated they would probably follow suit with alluminum truck body parts depending on how it works out for Ford. So get off this high horse that you guys like to point out that Ram is first at everything, and bash everything else. I am not saying Ram does not have some firsts, but that does not mean they don't follow the others too. I would say the same for Ford, GM, and Toyota. Neither of them were first in everything, and both have followed other brands too.

Posted by: ALL1 | Jul 21, 2014 11:41:22 AM

GM got caught with their pants down. Again. Seems they're always trying to catch up with the other two major brands.

Posted by: JRT | Jul 21, 2014 11:42:38 AM

Old news............. yawn.

This was announced on TTAC 3 days ago.

Gotta laugh at the "we had this first" or "follower" remarks.

A vehicle's lead in time for a development cycle is on average 5 years. GM would of been looking at this as an option when they developed the new Corvette and the new truck lineup.

GM was reported to have started work on an aluminum truck around the same time Ford did but bankruptcy and bailout killed the project.

Left out one very important detail: Denali and High Country trim ONLY.....

Posted by: KTC | Jul 21, 2014 11:54:32 AM

@Lou

Yeah, you are right on that. This site seems to post stuff after everyone else does. I don't know what Mark Williams has going on behind the seens, but I remember Mike Levine being more "up to date" while still being more involved in the comments. I kind of miss those days although I didn't comment much back then. It also seems that there were more "Shootouts" back then than there are these days. Makes you kind of wonder what Mark has going on that has him so busy that Mike didn't. I am not downing Mark if he has a valid reason, but it just seems this site a little behind since Mike left.

Posted by: ALL1 | Jul 21, 2014 11:57:12 AM

TRX-4 Tom

Once again, GM is a follower.

Maybe this is how they got the tow numbers for 2015 6.2s, they would probably not get it (12K) too well with the old six speed, same one GM boys were buying the 4.8 to avoid, lol.

REALLY? Why don't you ask someone with a 70's dodge truck how they brake without their Delco brakes. YEAH GM brakes on a Dodge.

Posted by: R3NxSTONEx | Jul 21, 2014 11:58:13 AM

@ALL1
Seriously? Do you guys have to bash everything, but Rams? Every make follows each other if something works. Ram followed the others with 2013 updates like the use of high strength steel in parts of their 1500 frames, they added elctronic power steering in 2013 that Ford had since 2009, they finally added a long bed in a crew cab that the others already had, and the Ram CEO even stated they would probably follow suit with alluminum truck body parts depending on how it works out for Ford. So get off this high horse that you guys like to point out that Ram is first at everything, and bash everything else. I am not saying Ram does not have some firsts, but that does not mean they don't follow the others too. I would say the same for Ford, GM, and Toyota. Neither of them were first in everything, and both have followed other brands too.

Common sense and facts instead of misplaced guessing. Thanks for contributing some truth here!

Posted by: R3NxSTONEx | Jul 21, 2014 12:01:38 PM

Two other problems....

The 8 speed will be *late availability.*

And the 6.2 "not available to order at this time."

So no more 6.2's until late 2015.

Posted by: KTC | Jul 21, 2014 12:02:44 PM

Yes Ram had an 8 speed first, but they bought theirs from ZF and just tweaked it a little. Their version did not go through all the validation testing GM has put their trannies through. GM started to cut back on this in the 80′s and they had failures. Now they are back to the testing they used to do and we will not have failure like in the past. Note: Ram had recalls and failures with their ZF box.

Posted by: KLF | Jul 21, 2014 12:14:55 PM

@Lou

"GM was going to comply with J2807 a few years ago. They even announced their tow ratings but abruptly withdrew when Ford said they'd wait until the next gen trucks. "

Yeah, the J2807 compliant on their 2013 trucks before they pulled them were a lot lower than the ones today. For example, the 2015 6.2L 3.73 max tow that is rated for 12,000lbs today was rated at 10,500lbs in 2013 going by the J2807. The 2015 5.3L 3.42 that is rated for 9,400lbs today was at 8,600lbs going by the J2807 standards in 2013. I am not sure that just an engine power bump would have gotten them to the 2015 numbers, and I am thinking that this 8 speed was also involved to get them compliant. This is just a guess bassed on expereince so I am not 100% on it.

Lots of problems with getting a 6.2L. It won't be available to order until 2015.5

But there is a new grille.

Posted by: Nick | Jul 21, 2014 12:32:49 PM

How pissed would you be if you got the new truck and one year later it's outdated .

Posted by: Mike c | Jul 21, 2014 12:46:43 PM

Congratulations to GM. Second truck with 8 speed behind the RAM.
Congratulations to Ford PR department for selling most trucks with outdated stuff in it.

Posted by: zviera | Jul 21, 2014 1:03:32 PM

@GM

Quit the crap, really.

It's getting long in the tooth.

You want to have an 8 speed, but everyone else has one already.

Learn to research the market with good information, then we might be able to have a decent truck.

Opinions are good, but if they are only your view to support the UAW, then how good are they. Look at what you guys have done to Detroit.

Terror tactics (union tactics) don't work on me.

If PUTC wants the UAW or whatever to control this site I suppose it's their decision.

It's not kids like I've been told by PUTC.

Posted by: Big Al from Oz | Jul 21, 2014 1:20:17 PM

People crying over the 8 speed being just with the 6.2L. GM is probably doing this so they can built up a good supply, but still get a few out on the road to work out any bug there maybe before they put it in all models.

Posted by: johnny doe | Jul 21, 2014 2:17:49 PM

Don't expect GM to be waiting to put the 8 speed in all models if they just spent $1.3 Billion on 9 and 10 speeds. That would make no sense. More likely the 8 speed 6.2L is a stopgap, and 9 and 10 speeds will start arriving in 2016.

Posted by: Paul | Jul 21, 2014 2:35:43 PM

If I was buying a GM I wouldn't buy a Denali/HC 6.2 so this wouldn't help me and 98% of GM buyers agree with me. If I had to wait to 2015.5, I would just wait a little more for the 10 speed. NO DEAL!

Posted by: Paul | Jul 21, 2014 2:37:59 PM

Johnny Doe, they are not doing it to build up a supply. They are doing it so they can say publicly that they have an 8-speed transmission. No matter that it's only going to be available in very limited quantities. And the reason it is available only in certain models is that they got caught flat-footed and had to rush the design and that's been done only enough so far to offer this transmission on one small combination of engine and truck. Since they don't have enough availability yet for all trucks with that engine, then offer it only with the higher cost models so some buyers will buy the more profitable models just to get that transmission.

Posted by: JRT | Jul 21, 2014 2:43:44 PM

@ GM Quit the crap,really. It getting long in the tooth. You have an 8 speed, but every else has one already .BAfOz. Ha Ha that does not sound like you, must be somebody else , when you say ever body else, already has one. can you name every body else? We are talking about trucks and i can only name one RAM So who are the others?

Posted by: Louis o | Jul 21, 2014 2:44:53 PM

By the time the Silverado has all the options I want at the trim level I want to pay for, the all new 2018 models will be out.

Posted by: mcarr | Jul 21, 2014 3:10:21 PM

I don't care about Denali. Just wait for the 2018 next gen trucks, with aluminum, 10 speed and turbocharged engines to arrive. Ford girly men lose and GM wins again!

Posted by: Detroit Bob | Jul 21, 2014 3:26:05 PM

Yeah I don't see FORD or gm adapting that stupid rotary dial on the dash anymore than obummer saying he's a peckerhe@d. That dial is just lame. They should of used the old pushbutton set-up they had years ago. Who wants to twist a stupid dial??

Posted by: Truck Crazy. | Jul 21, 2014 3:26:11 PM

Silverado/Sierra 1500: GM next year will add its eight-speed gearbox to some 6.2-liter engine models, such as the Sierra Denali. A 10-speed, now under development, should begin to roll across the pickup lineup starting in 2017.

Other powertrain enhancements are expected through the life cycle of the current truck, including the strong possibility of a diesel engine, and possibly a turbocharged offering.

GM is likely by 2016 to refresh the front-end styling of the Silverado, which has been derided as too conservative. But a next-gen truck platform isn't expected until the second half of 2018, which gives GM some time to decide whether to match Ford with an aluminum-intensive redesign, or to make less extensive use of the lightweight material.

Lots of updates to come and next gen arriving in 2018. Ford loses and GM wins again!

Posted by: Detroit Bob | Jul 21, 2014 3:30:57 PM

BREAKING NEWS

GM Is Building A Ford Raptor Fighter

Posted by: Detroit Bob | Jul 21, 2014 3:35:27 PM

@JRT They are building up supply and improving mpg on their less fuel efficient engine for café to help with corporate fleet average MPG while racking in money. They are making sure there is no bugs or working out the bugs on a smaller group before offering it on all models.. It will be the same as the current 6 speed trans it started out in the higher end models and then offered on all trucks. Its common sense!

Posted by: johnny doe | Jul 21, 2014 3:45:56 PM

Go with a CVT transmission like my ATV uses! The gear ratio is endless and a CVT is much more efficient transferring the engine power to the wheels.
In a 5000lb pickup they will have to go with a much bigger rubber belt, but it will be easy and cheap to change when it wears out.

Posted by: Tom#3 | Jul 21, 2014 4:12:29 PM

I drove Chevy trucks for years, but now I drive a Ram. The problem with waiting 2 or 3 years to get something thats available now is I'm 65 years old. People my age die every day. I want to make sure I get it now. I can always switch back someday if I'm still around. I've driven Fords too. Guess I'm not too brand loyal.

This is the same 8 speed being offered in the Corvette with the same engine. The 10 speed will be offered with the other engines offered. The 8 speed is also being offered in the new suvs with the 6.2.

Posted by: greg | Jul 21, 2014 4:54:14 PM

I'd love to see this 8 speed go in the new Canyon and Colorado.

Posted by: Brian | Jul 21, 2014 5:04:04 PM

@Tom#3

That is your opinion and you are allowed to have it. Although in my world, that was just a normal dirt road compared to some of the sometimes washed out roads I go though at the farm and dear lease.

Posted by: ALL1 | Jul 21, 2014 5:13:08 PM

@fredtheman

It is not necessarily about being "brand loyal". It is better to be loyal to yourself and get what you want out of a truck no matter what the brand is. What you look for in a truck may be different that what others look for and a truck, and it would be just stupid to limit yourself to some name or badge on the side of some sheet metal(or aluminum). So you did the right thing getting what you wanted out of a truck regardless of what brand that truck was. Be loyal to yourself, not a brand.

Posted by: ALL1 | Jul 21, 2014 5:18:14 PM

@Trucker--I don't know how many gears this will end at. I will wait 10 years for the new 20 speed automatic, more gears and better mpgs. How many gears is enough? I am also going to wait for the new Gillette razor with 15 blades a much closer shave, as close as a man can get to the guillotine. Heads will really roll over this.

Posted by: Jeff S | Jul 21, 2014 5:26:50 PM

I don't have anything against this transmission but I do wonder where this will end. How many gears does an automatic need to where a point of diminishing returns is reached? I do hope GM has tested these new 8 speeds because they do not need anymore problems than they have now.

Posted by: Jeff S | Jul 21, 2014 5:32:28 PM

@Tom#3 - your video shows a bunch of morons who do not know WTF they are doing. You'd think that a bunch of "farm boys" would be smarter than that.

@R3NxSTONEx - accusing a brand of following or copying shows a serious lack of understanding as to how large corporations work.

"high strength steel in parts of their 1500 frames"

Is the use of high strength steel proprietary information?

Nope - the technology is out there.

EPS - it is a forgone conclusion that to improve fuel economy to meet CAFE Engineers will have to use technology that is commonly available.
Does Ford hold trademarks on EPS?
Sh!t - Yamaha has it on quads.

Adding a long bed?
That one is design by committee and bean counter approval. Those committees saw that they were missing out on a huge piece of market by sticking to a 5.5 box.

Aluminum truck?
That isn't a Ford exclusive "Gregory" had produced a link that showed GM had started work on an aluminum bodied truck a year before Ford but Bankruptcy, bailout and the Great Recession killed those plans.
That is also why the current GM twins aren't much of a leap forward. These trucks would of been the intermediate gap filler between the aluminum Chevy and the GMT900 but they should of been released 3 years ago as a mid-cycle refresh (not an all new truck).

Truck design starts 5-6 years ahead of time. Basically the moment a new truck is released the updates and improvements are already pre-ordained. Ford may be releasing the 2015 Aluminum F150 this year but they already are working on its replacement.

Big corporations are constrained by hierarchies and committee. Even if they "copied" a competitors idea it would take a long time to work through the system.

Another point is rather simple. Engineering is basically applied math and physics. If engineers were allowed to design a product without cost or design orthodoxy (i.e. brand identity) they would all come up with basically the same design.
Why?
Science says there is a "best way" to do something.

An example of engineers being constrained by corporate orthodoxy is the current Hemi. They had a hard time engineering it to meet emissions standards. That is why it has 2 spark plugs. Another interesting point is that the current hemi is not based on Chrysler hemi history but upon Porsche design. Porsche had a better design.

"Common sense and facts instead of misplaced guessing."

in my line of work "common sense" means thinking and acting like everyone else. That way of thinking does not measure up to "critical thinking" which is a process of analysing variables and coming to the superior decision.

"Common sense" is basically design by committee. That is why most cars tend to be cookie cutter variations of each other. The "common sense" or most common opinion is "design X" is the most popular.

There was an excellent article explaining the whole design process in a magazine called "Cycle Canada". One of the writers was a designer that had worked for Yamaha and some large independent design studio's in Europe. I doubt there is a copy of the issue on line which is too bad.

I don't have anything against this transmission but I do wonder where this will end. How many gears does an automatic need to where a point of diminishing returns is reached?

@Jeff S

You are SO FULL OF S**T!

On May 9 responding to an article on the same topic, I said the exact same thing you're saying today, but back then in your infinite wisdom you determined that I'm some kind of caveman.

We are so lucky we have you here to keep the rest of us on the right track.

Posted by: papa jim | Jul 21, 2014 7:28:10 PM

@R3NxSTONEx - yeah whatever that blow-hard said plus....

A clear cloudless day-time sky is blue because molecules in the air scatter blue light from the sun more than they scatter red light. When we look towards the sun at sunset, we see red and orange colours because the blue light has been scattered out and away from the line of sight.

The white light from the sun is a mixture of all colours of the rainbow. This was demonstrated by Isaac Newton, who used a prism to separate the different colours and so form a spectrum. The colours of light are distinguished by their different wavelengths. The visible part of the spectrum ranges from red light with a wavelength of about 720 nm, to violet with a wavelength of about 380 nm, with orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo between. The three different types of colour receptors in the retina of the human eye respond most strongly to red, green and blue wavelengths, giving us our colour vision.

The first steps towards correctly explaining the colour of the sky were taken by John Tyndall in 1859. He discovered that when light passes through a clear fluid holding small particles in suspension, the shorter blue wavelengths are scattered more strongly than the red. This can be demonstrated by shining a beam of white light through a tank of water with a little milk or soap mixed in. From the side, the beam can be seen by the blue light it scatters; but the light seen directly from the end is reddened after it has passed through the tank. The scattered light can also be shown to be polarised using a filter of polarised light, just as the sky appears a deeper blue through polaroid sun glasses.

This is most correctly called the Tyndall effect, but it is more commonly known to physicists as Rayleigh scattering—after Lord Rayleigh, who studied it in more detail a few years later. He showed that the amount of light scattered is inversely proportional to the fourth power of wavelength for sufficiently small particles. It follows that blue light is scattered more than red light by a factor of (700/400)4 ~= 10.

Tyndall and Rayleigh thought that the blue colour of the sky must be due to small particles of dust and droplets of water vapour in the atmosphere. Even today, people sometimes incorrectly say that this is the case. Later scientists realised that if this were true, there would be more variation of sky colour with humidity or haze conditions than was actually observed, so they supposed correctly that the molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in the air are sufficient to account for the scattering. The case was finally settled by Einstein in 1911, who calculated the detailed formula for the scattering of light from molecules; and this was found to be in agreement with experiment. He was even able to use the calculation as a further verification of Avogadro's number when compared with observation. The molecules are able to scatter light because the electromagnetic field of the light waves induces electric dipole moments in the molecules.

Posted by: Lou BC | Jul 21, 2014 7:30:22 PM

@ MIKE c

How pissed would you be if you got the new truck and one year later it's outdated .

Not at all...That is life today be it trucks, T.V's, computers,cameras..etc ,etc

The minute you purchase anything today you know within 6 months or a year there will be a new improved or advance or more option version coming.

Posted by: R3NxSTONEx | Jul 21, 2014 8:04:30 PM

@ Lou_BC

@R3NxSTONEx - accusing a brand of following or copying shows a serious lack of understanding as to how large corporations work.

"high strength steel in parts of their 1500 frames"

Is the use of high strength steel proprietary information?

Nope - the technology is out there.

EPS - it is a forgone conclusion that to improve fuel economy to meet CAFE Engineers will have to use technology that is commonly available.
Does Ford hold trademarks on EPS?
Sh!t - Yamaha has it on quads.

Adding a long bed?
That one is design by committee and bean counter approval. Those committees saw that they were missing out on a huge piece of market by sticking to a 5.5 box.

Aluminum truck?
That isn't a Ford exclusive "Gregory" had produced a link that showed GM had started work on an aluminum bodied truck a year before Ford but Bankruptcy, bailout and the Great Recession killed those plans.
That is also why the current GM twins aren't much of a leap forward. These trucks would of been the intermediate gap filler between the aluminum Chevy and the GMT900 but they should of been released 3 years ago as a mid-cycle refresh (not an all new truck).

Truck design starts 5-6 years ahead of time. Basically the moment a new truck is released the updates and improvements are already pre-ordained. Ford may be releasing the 2015 Aluminum F150 this year but they already are working on its replacement.

Big corporations are constrained by hierarchies and committee. Even if they "copied" a competitors idea it would take a long time to work through the system.

Another point is rather simple. Engineering is basically applied math and physics. If engineers were allowed to design a product without cost or design orthodoxy (i.e. brand identity) they would all come up with basically the same design.
Why?
Science says there is a "best way" to do something.

An example of engineers being constrained by corporate orthodoxy is the current Hemi. They had a hard time engineering it to meet emissions standards. That is why it has 2 spark plugs. Another interesting point is that the current hemi is not based on Chrysler hemi history but upon Porsche design. Porsche had a better design.

"Common sense and facts instead of misplaced guessing."

in my line of work "common sense" means thinking and acting like everyone else. That way of thinking does not measure up to "critical thinking" which is a process of analysing variables and coming to the superior decision.

"Common sense" is basically design by committee. That is why most cars tend to be cookie cutter variations of each other. The "common sense" or most common opinion is "design X" is the most popular.

There was an excellent article explaining the whole design process in a magazine called "Cycle Canada". One of the writers was a designer that had worked for Yamaha and some large independent design studio's in Europe. I doubt there is a copy of the issue on line which is too bad.

UMM NICE RANT BUT YOU MAY WANT TO FOLLOW THE THREAD BETTER AS I DID NOT POST ANYTHING ABOUT FRAMES OR HIGH STRENTH STEEL

C'mon LOU BC put your glasses on before you rant at the wrong person... cheers. I believe @ All 1 made the Statement not me.